Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause. “We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia. This is a fact,” Aliyev said in a televised interview, according to a transcript posted on Azerbaijan’s presidential website.
“No one can deny this fact,” Aliyev continued. “Again, we are not saying that this was done intentionally, but it was done.” Perforations in the plane’s body that look similar to damage from shrapnel or debris led many to believe the plane was shot down by Russian air defense units, including a US official who told CNN that signs pointed to a Russian system striking the plane. “The fact that the fuselage is riddled with holes indicates that the theory of the plane hitting a flock of birds… is completely removed from the agenda,” Aliyev said in Sunday’s interview.
“It is possible that when the plane was damaged, when it was hit, the pilot could have perceived it as a collision with birds. Because it would probably never have occurred to anyone that our plane might be fired at from the ground while flying over a country friendly to us,” he continued. Aliyev said this was “another regrettable and surprising moment” that “clearly showed that the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue, which, of course, is unbecoming of anyone.”
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin “apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace” in a phone call with Aliyev, adding that Russian air defenses were active at the time but stopped short of admitting fault. Russian state media TASS reported that Putin and Aliyev had another call on Sunday, but did not offer any more information on the conversation.
Aliyev said Sunday that instead of making up theories about the reason for the crash, Russia should instead take the blame and apologize fully. He also said that Russia suggested that the Interstate Aviation Committee investigate the disaster, but Azerbaijan “categorically refused” because “it is no secret that this organization consists mostly of Russian officials and is headed by Russian citizens.” “If we had seen fair and reasonable steps by Russia in the immediate aftermath of the accident, we probably would not have objected. But we saw that attempts to cover up the case were quite obvious,” Aliyev said.
Source: Here
